A group of concerned staffers of the Federal Road Safety Corps has alleged moves by the Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi to stay in office beyond the mandatory retirement age of 60 years.
The Corps Marshal who is expected to clock 60 years on 26th of November 2020, according to the group, is marshalling moves to extend his tenure beyond the legal limit.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Sunday, the staffers said as citizens of this great country interested in good governance and respect for the due process, they are compelled to expose and alert the Federal Government of any manipulation that could run counter to laws, rules and regulations that govern and regulate the appointment and tenure of public Officers as provided for in the constitution, FRSC Establishment and Act, the Public Service Rules , the approved FRSC condition of service and extant circulars.
The public service rules, the group explained, clearly states that no officer shall be allowed to remain in service after attaining the retirement age of 60 years or 35 years of personable service, which ever is earlier.
The staffers also quote a circular from the office of the Head Of Service to all agencies of the Federal Government which says ” For avoidance of doubt and in order to maintain discipline and integrity of the Public Service, extant public service rule which prescribed 60 years of age or 35 years of service for mandatory retirement, should Strictly be complied with . Accordingly, the following guidelines shall apply. (I) that career officers who take up tenured appointment should at the point of taking up the appointment retire from service to ensure they run their term uninterrupted.
(II) that career Officers who have not retired from service before the commencement of their tenured appointment must leave office on attainment of mandatory age/years of service for retirement and (iii) that career Officers who are currently holding tenured appointment are required to retire from service with immediate effect and continue to run their term. Failure to do so would mean that they would vacate office on attaining the mandatory age or at the expiration of their term which ever comes first.”.
The group said it can be deduced that there is nothing wrong in giving Mr. Oyeyemi 4 year tenure appointment, however being a career officer, he should disengage from public service on attainment of the age of 60 years irrespective of whether he has run his tenure out or not.
Also quoting a section of the FRSC Act 2007, the group contended that it provides only a single term for a period of 4 years, ” There is no provision for second term. One can therefore conclude , base on the section the second term Mr. Oyeyemi is running now is not provided for in the FRSC ACT “.
The group recalled that recently, Mr Oyeyemi had cause to compel two top ranking Officers Asst, Corps Marshal Omiyale Ayobami and Corps Commandant Frank Okwueze to retire based on investigations he conducted and discovered that the duo were over 60 years of age The group then wondered why the Corps Marshal wants to stay put in his own case.
Only last week , the group said, Mr. President lamented on the pervasive corruption plaguing all strata of the Public Service saying there is no Corruption more than for public Officers to manipulate extant laws and regulations to perpetrate themselves in office.
This is one area the Staffers urged Mr. President to also focus attention to achieve his laudable objective of getting rid of all forms of corruption in Nigeria .
From the foregoing, the group therefore advised the Corps Marshal to follow the path of honour after enjoying the grace of Mr. President to serve for Six and half years in the office to gracefully bow out on 26/11/2020 on attaining the age of 60 years
The staffers are of the strong opinion that any action the Corps Marshal would have taken from 26th November 2020 as Corps Marshal is illegal, and any emolument he received must be refunded to the coffers of the Federal Government.
